A/N: couple more facts; Rick doesn't have any books published yet but it will happen whilst he's still at college, as will the name change. Thank you to those of you who reviewed the first chapter, I'm glad you all enjoyed it and here is chapter two!
She was beautiful.
The way her smile was so wide it took up half of her face, lighting up those gorgeous eyes in the process; the way she flicked her hair over her shoulder without really noticing what she was doing, of the effect she had on him - and a few other males in the crowded cafeteria. They hadn't gone unnoticed by Rick, how at least a dozen guys had turned to watch her as she walked in half an hour ago to join her friend, Lanie he thought was her name, the same friend she'd been with at the party four nights ago.
Four nights since they'd met, four nights since she'd turned him down and brushed him off like a speck of dust on an old pair of jeans. But still, he hadn't been able to get her out of his mind since that night, his dreams flooded with images of this beautiful, captivating mystery who had grabbed his attention the second he'd seen her dancing in that living room. Since Sunday morning he'd looked for her everywhere he'd gone, hoping to perhaps bump into her around campus or in the library but he'd had no luck - until now.
Rick had been in the cafeteria for about twenty minutes when he saw her walk in, his attention immediately dropping from the blonde in front of him, Emily was her name..or maybe it was Erica..oh whatever, it's not like he cared anyway, girls like her were a dime a dozen around here, but Kate..Kate was different. Perhaps it had something to do with her bad ass attitude and quite obvious disgust for the way he lived his life but Rick couldn't deny that he was smitten and he knew he'd work his ass off to get her one way or another, once he turned on the famous Rodgers charm she just wouldn't be able to resist him.
He also wouldn't deny that he had felt a little pang of jealousy when he saw a fair few other heads turn in Kate's direction as she entered and made her way to the table Lanie was currently sat at, and especially not when she greeted a tall, blonde guy with a kiss on the cheek when he made his way over to say hi. As far as Rick was concerned that girl was his and he'd be damned if he let anyone else have her.
"Hey baby, what do you say we get together tonight..I've got a chemistry test I really need to study for.." Erica or Emily or Eva was purring into his ear. Baby? Ugh.
"Sorry, I'm an English major, no good at chemistry," he responded distractedly, without taking his eyes off of Kate, hoping the blonde would get the hint and leave him alone. Luck was on his side - he heard her sigh and mumble something about "what does she have that I don't" before disappearing off to find some other guy to harass.
It had been fun at first, getting girls easily and always having company but the novelty was definitely starting to wear off, the way he could just walk into a party and have five girls on his arm in an instant was honestly getting a little boring. Rick wanted excitement. Something new and interesting..a challenge - and boy was Kate going to be a challenge, but as he heard the tinkle of her laughter ring through his ears from her table, he was damn sure it was going to be the best reward he'd ever gotten.
"So, how's second week going for you girls?" Adam asked as he joined Lanie and Kate at their table. He lived across the hall from them with his roommate - and boyfriend - and they had both made friends with the girls the day after they'd moved in.
"Pretty good," Kate replied first, taking a sip of her water. "It's busy and full on but I'm really enjoying it so far, there's just so much to take in!"
"Tell me about it," Lanie laughed, "I don't know how people have time to party every night, I'm ready for bed straight after I've eaten dinner at the moment!"
"You'll get used to it," Adam told them. He was a junior, majoring in Political Science so he knew firsthand the shock of the workload straight off the bat. It had been crazy for him too at first but you soon get used to it, work out a way to balance all your assignments and projects and still have time to have a bit of a social life. "What about the guys, seen anybody interesting yet?" He asked with a grin.
"Well..Kate met somebody interesting at the party we went to on Saturday night," Lanie answered with a mischievous grin. She hadn't completely ignored the exchange between Rick and her friend the other night, she might have been a little distracted and on her way out but anybody could have sensed the tension between those two, it was almost electric.
"Er, no I didn't," Kate argued. "And besides, I wasn't the one who spent the majority of the night with my tongue down some guys throat."
Lanie simply shrugged. "I'm eighteen and at college, it's called having fun."
"Okay, now this I have to hear," Adam laughed. He'd been watching the conversation between the two of them and he hadn't missed the faint blush that had appeared on Kate's cheeks when Lanie mentioned her meeting someone. "So, who is he, Kate?"
"He's nobody," Kate replied defiantly. "Just some jumped up asshole who thinks girls should fall at his feet and worship the ground he walks on."
"Rick Rodgers," Lanie and Adam said at the same time.
"How on earth did you you know that?" Kate asked.
"The way you described him," Adam shrugged. "You strike me as the kind who isn't impressed easily and especially not when it comes to jumped up assholes. And besides, you're hot, Rodgers was bound to try it on at some point. You'll probably be next, Lanie."
"Oh I wouldn't be so sure about that," Lanie grinned, "in the half an hour since Kate walked in here, I've seen Rick brush off some blonde tart, not once taking his eyes off of Kate."
Kate blushed and her eyes widened. "You're making it up," she said, desperately hoping she was right, it would just be her luck to attract the attention of the college playboy.
"On no I'm not," Lanie said, raising her hand in a wave before motioning for Rick to come and join them. "And lover boy is on his way over right this second."
"Lanie," Kate hissed, "I swear to god you-"
"Hey girls," came the voice of Rick Rodgers as he appeared from behind Kate and took the seat next to her. Brilliant, just what she wanted right now. "And how are you today?"
"Great!" Lanie exclaimed whilst Kate simply muttered "fine."
"I don't think we've met," Rick said politely to Adam before introducing himself.
Kate didn't know what to do. On one hand, she could stand up and leave, make her excuses and pretend she had somewhere to be - but Lanie knew that wasn't true and Kate wouldn't put it past her to point that out and make her look like and idiot in front of Rick. Not that she was bothered about that per se, it was more the fact that she didn't want Rick cottoning onto the fact that he affected her like he did, the last thing she wanted was for him to think it was because of him that she wanted to leave because she knew he'd read more into it and take it as confirmation that she was interested. Which she wasn't. At all.
So her other option was to sit here and listen to the conversation Lanie was making with Rick, whilst his knee was pressed against hers under the table. She tried desperately to ignore the butterflies once again but it was damn near impossible, the guy was hot, she could admit that and she wasn't completely unaffected by the whole bad boy thing he had going on. But getting involved with a guy like that was not an option, he would be a waste of her time and it would only end badly when he moved on to the next girl anyway so why would she put herself through that?
When she was fifteen she'd made a promise to herself that she'd never be one of 'those girls', the kind that spends their time hoping to catch the attention of the high school quarterback or whatever, the popular jock that everyone wanted to be with and she'd done well, she'd dated a bit in high school, nothing serious but they were nice guys, guys who didn't mess her about and she had fun with. She had hoped this could transpire to college too, but with the way she was affected by the slightest of touches from Rick she was beginning to think it might not be so easy this time.
The 'look at me I'm so amazing' showing off thing had never done it for her before but now..well, living in a new state didn't seem to be the only noticeable change in her life.
"You're very quiet today, Kate," Rick noted. "Are you feeling okay?"
"Perfect, thank you," she replied politely, cursing internally as she felt herself blush. Jesus Christ why was she like a fourteen year old with a crush? Just because a guy was showing her a bit of attention didn't mean she needed to freak out, it's not like it hadn't happened before..she wouldn't exactly describe herself as overly attractive but she thought she was okay looking. Of course she had hang ups, certain parts of her body that she disliked but so did everybody, it was just part of being a girl. But still, she'd had boyfriends at school, had guys stare at her as she walked past all dressed up, beep at her from their cars as she walked down the street, so why was it such a big deal that this guy in particular was showing her some attention?
It's because you don't want to want him, the voice inside her head answered for her. Dammit. She didn't want him, not at all. Liar.
"Right, well it was lovely speaking with you all but I need to get back to the library, see you all around soon," Rick announced as he stood up from the table. Kate breathed a sigh of relief, he was leaving, it hadn't been that bad and she'd managed to sit there and act like she wasn't interested - hopefully the guy would take a hint now and move on to someone else. Someone who actually wanted him. As in not her.
"Oh and Kate," he whispered, leaning down to talk into her ear without being overheard. "Here's my number, call me." As he walked away from their table, Kate glanced down and noticed he'd pressed a scrap of paper with his number scrawled onto it into her hand. So much for moving on to the next girl.
"So are you gonna call him?" Lanie asked, munching on a carrot stick.
"Call who?" Kate asked, playing dumb.
Lanie and Adam shared a look. "Rick, obviously," Lanie harrumphed. "We aren't stupid, we saw him give you his number."
Kate rolled her eyes. "No, I'm not going to call him."
"Why not?" Lanie and Adam asked in unison.
"Because I'm not interested, that's why."
"Oh come off it," Lanie scoffed. "The guy is hot, even you can't deny that. And he's into you, what's the big deal?"
"The big deal is that I don't want to be just another one of Rick Rodgers' conquests. I don't want to be 'one of those girls' you know, it's not a club I signed up to join when we looked around last week," Kate said, hoping her voice didn't betray how she really felt. It wasn't that she wanted him..she just didn't not want him either. God he was infuriating and cocky and a jackass and..and..and hot. Like, really hot. His broad chest was to die for in itself, never mind the bulging biceps and toned shoulders. And oh god those eyes, she could stare into them for hours and never get bored.
Oh hell she was screwed.
As if Kate didn't think she was doomed enough as it was, that night she couldn't sleep. Her mind was flooded with images of Rick and his stupid damn eyes. Lanie had dropped off over an hour ago, the room filled with the sound of her soft breathing as she had a night filled with dreams and rest. But not Kate, oh no, she was wide awake and trying desperately to think of anything other than the guy who had wormed his way into her head. Not that she'd would ever give him the satisfaction of knowing he had got to her though, never in a million years. He was better off thinking she wasn't interested and hopefully he'd finally get bored and move on to his next victim.
Lanie had spent the evening trying to convince her of the advantages of dating Rick and she had to admit, a few of them would be beneficial to her but the cons far outweighed the pros. It's not like she'd even be dating him exclusively, he'd have a few others on the go too and Kate Beckett was not going to settle for that, she deserved more that that.
What she needed was a distraction, to find a nice guy who wouldn't mess her about and flirt with ten other girls in front of her and expect her to be fine with it..perhaps she could ask Lanie to help her, or maybe Adam knew someone he could hook her up with. She could go on a date, do it all properly and forget all about Rick Rodgers. Yeah, that's what she'd do - he might be used to getting his own way but not this time, this time he wasn't getting the girl.
As she finally drifted off to sleep, Kate conveniently forgot that she still had Rick's number under the lamp on her bedside table, she just hadn't been able to bring herself to tear it up and throw it away.
Not that that meant anything, obviously.
A/N: I feel the need to point out that I'm not American, I'm English, so I apologise for any factual mistakes to do with the college system. Feel free to correct me if you think I could change it in future chapters :)
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